Curiosity, Reality, and the Stories We Don’t Want to See (with Tal Barda)

 In this profound conversation, filmmaker Tal Barda shares her journey of documenting the unseen realities of our world. Growing up between cultures (Israeli, French, and American), Tal developed a fearless curiosity that drove her to explore places and stories most people prefer to avoid - from prisons to Gaza, from ultra-Orthodox communities to immigrant families navigating tradition versus personal freedom. She discusses her recent film I Shall Not Hate about a Palestinian doctor from Gaza, which was completed just one week before October 7th, and how that tragedy transformed both the film's meaning and her mission as a filmmaker. The conversation explores the intersection of curiosity and introspection, the challenge of belonging when you're always the outsider, and how witnessing difficult realities can lead to personal transformation and social change.

Key Topics:

• Using documentary filmmaking to reveal hidden and ignored realities
• The power of curiosity as a driving force for personal and professional growth
• Growing up between cultures and how that shapes perspective
• The challenge and responsibility of filmmaking during times of conflict
• Balancing personal safety with the calling to witness difficult truths
• The difference between telling big stories through small, human lenses
• Finding belonging as a perpetual outsider
• The intersection of art, activism, and human connection
• Managing the intensity of extreme subject matter while maintaining humanity

Notable Quotes:

• "I'm always looking at reality, but the reality that most of us prefer not to see or to ignore."
• "If you meet one person and then you can't continue generalizing everything around and you can't continue being so polarized."
• "Reality is much stronger than what you planned."
• "I feel that 50% of a solution would be just first realizing there's a problem or realizing a reality that we prefer maybe not to look at."
• "I feel more lively there [in extreme situations]."
• "We can all see ourselves in many different forms and characters. We all have different parts of our personality in ourselves."
• "Let the void be a void. We don't have that understanding in our modern society that it's okay that there's a void."

Tal's Powerful Question: "How am I witnessing whatever is taking place and the violence around and doing enough... Am I allowing myself to deal also with my personal issues and questions through these stories?"

Resources Mentioned:

• I Shall Not Hate - Tal's documentary about a Palestinian doctor from Gaza (currently screening in 50 cinemas across France)
• Prison series "Tזalmon" on Channel 11 (contact Tal if you want to view it internationally)
• "Criminal File 512" series about the crime world
• Tal on IMDB
• Pecha Kucha Festival (Tel Aviv)
• Follow Tal's work through Instagram
• Get access to CuriosityGPT and find your gateway questions
• Connect with your leader mindset and walk out with an actionable roadmap and insights that you actually want to follow - join the Curiosity Lab
• Get more questions, thoughts and introspection on Chedva’s newsletter